Huge Changes coming to YouTube!

[kunicross]

I think it won't help much to keep "bad actors" out - most of those will have already made it above the required metrics one way or another.
It's more about only catering to "productive" creators.

Of course if you run a channel it should not be all about the channel - but nobody here will not know that YouTube is a really expensive hobby so channels which just hit the 1000/4000 mark will usually be just at the brink of making any profit.

Of course there are many other ways to make money on YouTube - Adsense had the advantage of being a very easy one and also with very little entanglement - other stuff is worse in that regard.

The main point I see at the Moment is, that this will over time reduce the amount of small and newcomer creators (regardless of quality) - whoever has been on YouTube for a longer time like me has probably seen a whole lot of people start and never come back and give up as well - I would be surprised if more than 1-5 out of 100 people stating a channel would actually ever make it above 100 subs or establish a constant presence and that number will drop due to the changes.

Also the way they raise their bar is just plain rude to everyone currently partnered and below their expectations.
Of course you could argue that a slow rising would give bad people more opportunities to adjust but I think for one whoever has enough criminal energy to abuse the platform now will also find it's way into the new rules easily enough. As I see it people like Logan Paul are much more a problem for YouTube compared to some petty criminals trying to turn a dime.

(also there are about a billion fake videos claiming to be something and then only want you to click on some dubious link you probably should not click on - often those things stay up for years no matter how often you complain about them... I guess those will be still around...)
Oh and there are all kind of dubious people making ads on adsense especially here in Germany I got a very dubious one - "new car, new watch, make 60k Γé¼ a month you only need to whatsapp this number!"
(and most of the Pay2win mobile games which show grafics from totally different games....)

P.S.

One point I totally forget all the time - the new rules make it very unattractive to create a secondary channel so creators who want to try out different stuff and experiment a bit will be hindered = less diversity and creativity on YouTube.

P. P. S.
Also having to bring the 240.000 minutes of watchtime you have to bring in every year does mean it's more difficult to take a creative break or try out different stuff for channels too close to this number.
Not to forget if you just have 1001 subs you have to worry about dropping below that mark all the time - and God beware there is again a bug like the thing when every unsubscribe counted double...

 

[Sltron]

You have every right to feel that way. I am upset about the situation as well, knowing if I put in enough work I can potentially make it to a 1000 subscribers. With this, it feels like the small channels no longer have a chance. Now I have to get the subscribers AND have 4000 hours of watch time, along with 10,000 views. Not only that, but also maintaining the hours to continue monetization. The bar has been raised so high only the channels that only the channels that have exceeded the terms have a chance.

But for a bit of motivation: Just continue the hard work, and don't give up. I see hope down the road!

 

[Life Effects]

To be clear - not being monetized does not keep you from trying new stuff OR even start creating. But it means you need to find your audience first, before you can start thinking about monetization.

I just felt it was interesting to see how the channel developed and how the montly earning started to creep up.

But just as a thought - this threshold makes it very easy for youtube to estimate if a channel is about to get paid or not. A channel matching the criteria will definetly trigger a payment during a year.

I can't even think about how much money has to lay around on thousands of channels that for years gathered 10-20 bucks and never reached the payment threshold. Thats something they get rid of with these changes.

 

[Eric Burdon]

Like some people are indicating, I think it's important for people to realize that there are other options to earning revenue. As someone who somehow squeezed into the YPP program (I was with a network that gave it to me and then that network vanished from the face of the earth and I somehow was still in the YPP program) it does suck that I'm more than likely going to be booted out of the program. But as I've been thinking more and more about this, I'm asking myself "Why do I care?" I've been in the program from years and I have yet to get my first cheque. So I can see why Youtube is making this decision. Even though I am striving to make a living by juggling both Youtube and writing, it's not my main source. I have yet to depend on those sweet AdSense cheques. I only see this raised bar as a way to expand my community, which is what I'm more concerned about.

I'd rather depend less on advertisements as there are far more lucrative alternatives. From selling t-shirts, setting up a Patreon account and asking for pledges, to starting up a business where you can provide your own products, those are far more lucrative than anything else.

I think a lot of people can miss the big picture. Yes losing a literally no-hassle income stream and making it harder to get it back is tough, the important thing to realize is there are other options, other streams if you are committed. I'm familiar with a channel that is entirely supported by Patreon supporters. They're probably not going to be affected by this shift, but most of their income comes from Patreon. It goes to show, if you work hard, give value, and are generally likeable, you can not rely on ads. In fact having significantly less ads on Youtube can be a strong selling point. Who wants to sit and watch an advertisement they don't care about to get to the content they wanted to see?

 

[Suzy S]

Thanks for the info I had completely missed that part of the change.

At first I was a bit unhappy about this change; working hard to get to that 10K threshold, from which I was far. So a few seconds later I'm more like 'ah well I guess I'll just keep working hard'.

In another way I'm kind of happy that this seems to focus more on watch time rather than, because I personally prefer people to feel engaged with a video and watch for a long time or in full rather than getting a few seconds views.

It reminds of what I used to say to myself when hosting theatre nights for young people with Q&A at the end "even if there's one person coming/staying it's worth it', but of course the more the merrier

I guess we can't help things from changing; it'll definitely be interesting to see what comes next.

 

[Paul]

Creator Insider answers 4 of the most common questions about the YPP update.
Uploaded today.

 

[TubeBuddy]

Creator Insider answers 4 of the most common questions about the YPP update.
Uploaded today.

Thanks paul

 

[LivingWithTheGuzmans]

Guys you need to understand you will need 1000 Subscribers, 4000 hours of watch time that's about 240,000 minutes per year that alone is not easy for a new channel unless you have something really good going with your channel. And on top of that YouTube is going to review your channel under their discretion decide to let you into the program I am sure many many many will not be allowed into the program.

 

[TubeBuddy]

Guys you need to understand you will need 1000 Subscribers, 4000 hours of watch time that's about 240,000 minutes per year that alone is not easy for a new channel unless you have something really good going with your channel. And on top of that YouTube is going to review your channel under their discretion decide to let you into the program I am sure many many many will not be allowed into the program.

Hard to say who they will allow in, but I am sure they will be more strict. Again whether we like it or not... it's their house, their rules.

I do agree with you it's not easy. I will do my best to help others get in, and figure out how to get the watch-time.

 

[Sissarella]

Nice to know ... Thank you

 

[DragoNate]

I have been caught up in this. Like so many, I lost my access to the ad revenue program. I didn't (and still don't) see it as a positive development. Forgive me for getting a bit serious here, but when insidious channels like Infowars are allowed to make money from the bile they spew, and I am not, I can't see it as a positive development.

I think part of the problem is that YouTube seems to focus too heavily on numbers despite all the "numbers aren't everything" stuff. I get that it would be too difficult for them to go and manually check out every single channel on their platform, but there must be a way they could, or at least a way to narrow it down.
I think they should be taking into account how long a channel has been around and how often they upload. Numbers should be second factor. Also engagement. With their thumbnail analytics, they can tell you how many times your video has shown up on someone's screen and how many unique people have clicked it. I'm sure they could tell how often people comment on your videos and how many unique ones there are. That should be a huge factor because that means that you're actually building an audience.
But all of that is too complicated so it's just "nope, you can't until you're a big channel."

 

[topcoachdino]

I lost monetization as well...never made enough to be actually paid out...but it was a goal/incentive to post to see that number go up as well. Now I just post content for myself and my followers, if i ever get monetization back...thats just extra

 

[DragoNate]

Many people feel that Youtube did this in response to the Logan Paul situation.

The problem: A huge channel put up some seriously troubling, inappropriate content.
The solution: Punish all the small channels. That'll teach him. Oh wait!

Am I alone in seeing this as seriously effed up?

That was only part of the reason. This change has been in the works for at least a year. There's also a lot of channels (or were) that were posting content that was either stolen or barely their own and still making money off it. As well as stuff that was going against YouTube's community guidelines and ToS, including "adult content".

The good thing about this change is that it stops (or at least makes it harder for) brand new channels to poop in, monetize, gain a ton of views and all of a sudden be earning tons of money.

 

[DragoNate]

Understandably so